Colter



June 10, 1941. w. J. HEWITT COLTER Filed March 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a lllllllllllllllll unuuumfl F219. 4 Inventor W John Hewz'ti Aitor eys June 10, 1941.

Filed March 11, 1940 10 J K p r 16 as G n 420 32 Fig.5 N

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor 14'. John Hewz'li Atfoz neys Patented June 194.1

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ooL'rEn William John Hewitt, McMinnvillc, Oreg- Application March 11, 1940, Serial No. 323,329

9 Claims.

This invention relates ,in general to rolling colters of the type used with plows, and, in particular, to colters adapted to be mounted on' plows ahead of the plow blades or plow shares. However my invention is also adaptable for use in cflsc plows. V

An object of my invention is to provide an improved and simple mounting for a colter which will permit the making of various adjustments in the position and inclination of the colter with respect to the plane of travel of the plow.

Another object of my invention is to provide a colter mounting through which it will be possible to adjust the angularity of the plane of the colter without altering the location, to any extent, of the colter axis, with respect to the tip of the ted plow share.

As far as I know, it has always been customary to mount rotating colters in yokes, the yokes inv turn being supported from the plow beam or frame, and various means have been invented for adjusting the position of the yoke with respect to the plow beam so that the colter blade may he set at various angles. However, I have found that certain difficulties are encountered with colters supported in these adjustable yoke mountings. Among such difficulties are the clogging of the yoke, the breaking of the yoke, particularly if the colter disc is held at an angle and suddenly strikesa stone or other obstruction in the ground, and the diiiiculty of holding the yoke in the proper angular position against the pressure of the earth to be cut and plowed. I have found that these difficulties will be largely overcome if the colter is mounted on a vertical shaft and the usual yoke mounting is dispensed with entirely. Accordingly a further object of my invention is to provide a suitable, simple, and adjustable colter mounting in which the usual yoke member will be eliminated.

These and incidental objects I accomplish by providing an adjustable colter mounting of the nature hereinafter briefly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspectivegeneral view, in broken outline, of a conventional gang plow equipped with rolling colters mounted according to my invention, the colters being shown in full line;

g e 2 is an enlarged near-side elevation of one colter asembly, with a portion of the colter blade or disc broken away to show the details of the supporting bracket;

Figure 3 is a vertical medial section corresponding to Figure 2, but drawn to a larger scale, and showing the component parts of the supporting bracket separated slightly, for the sake of clarity;

Figure 4 is a sectional detail view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an end elevation of a colter assembly illustrating two of the several operative positions to which the colter axis may be tilted in a vertical plane;

Figure 6 is an end elevation of a modified form of my invention;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional plane taken on line 1-1 of Figure 6 and showing the parts slightly separated; and

Figure 8 is a plan view drawn to the same scale as Figures 5 and 6 and illustrating two of the several operative positions to which the axis of the colter of Figure 6 may readily be turned in a horizontal plane.

Referring first to the form of my invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, the colter disc is carried on a shank I0 which extends downwardly from the plow frame and is clamped to the plow beam 13 by the clamp C, as shown in Figure 2. The clamp C affords means for shifting the shank l0, and therewith the colter, along with the plow beam so that the colter may be placed at any desired distance in front of the tip of the plow share S. Any suitable clamp may be used for the purpose of holding the shank III in position on the plow beam B. Such clamp, however, should be of proper strength and design to hold the shank l0 firmly in place and to resist any tendency for the shank to slip or turn after it has been clamped in place.

The lower end of the shank i0 is preferably offset as shown in Figures 5 and 6, and below the bend in the shank a substantial portion ll (see Figure 3) is machined to a smaller diameter providing an upper annular shoulder l2. The bottom end of the shank i0 is still further reduced in diameter and is threaded as shown, at i3, this threaded end being adapted to receive a nut I4. A key way i5 extends longitudinally along the reduced portion H as shown by the dotted line in Figure 3. An annular disc i6 is carried on the sh stem I! and normally is held against the up er shoulder l2. Rotation of this angular disc i5 is prevented by a short key I1, carried by the disc I6 and slidable in the key way IS. The lower face of the annular disc i6 is provided with a continuous series of symmetrically-spaced radial teeth It.

A hub I9 is slidably and rotatably mounted on the reduced portion ll of the shank l0. The upper surface of the hub I9, adjacent the lower surface of the disc I6, is provided with radial teeth l9 corresponding to and adapted to engage with the teeth IS on the lower surface of the disc IS. The lower end face of the hub is likewise provided with radial teeth or otherwise serrated to correspond to the similar teeth on the upper adjacent surface of a second annular disc.20, identical in every respect to the upper disc I 6, carried on the bottom end of the reduced portion H of the shaft Ill and likewise retained against rotation on the stem II by a key 2| adapted to slide in the key way IS. The nut I4 serves to clamp the two discs l6 and and the interposed hub l9, together firmly and tightly, thus causing the toothed or serrated surfaces of the hub and the adjacent keyed discs to mesh and thereby preventing any rotation of the hub on the shank stem until the nut I4 is loosened to permit the engaging surfaces of hub and discs to be separated.

In one form in which I makemy invention,

the hub I9 is formed with an integral spindle carried on the spindle 22 and engage the similarly serrated end faces of the interposed body portion 29 also-mounted on said spindle 22. The body portion 29, through the medium of the key discs 21 and 28, may thus be clamped in :any desired radial position on the spindle 22 when the nut 26 is screwed tight; and the radial position of this body portion 29 may easily be adjusted by loosening the nut sufiiciently to separate the engaging serrated or toothed faces of the discs 21 and 23 and the body portion 29, just as in the case of the hub l9 previously described.

The body portion 29 is formed with a trunnion 30, the axis of which is normal to the axis of the spindle on which the body portion is mounted. The trunnion 30 constitutes a bearing for a rotatable sleeve 3| to which the colter disc is attached. In the drawings, the colter disc 33 is shown as dished, and I consider a dished disc as preferable for the colter, although a flat disc may also be used for the colter in my invention.

Figure 7 shows the manner in which the colter disc 33 may be attached to the rotatable sleeve 3|. The sleeve 3| extends beyond the trunnion 30 and has one end formed into a flange 32 of substantial diameter. When a dished colter disc is to be used, the outer face of the fiange 32 is made concave, as shown in Figure '7, to conform with the curvature of the dished colter 33. The outer face of the flange 32 of the sleeve 3| is also formed with a centrally located square seat 31 to accommodate a square projection 35 on the colter clamping member 36, which projection 35 extends through a concentric square hole 34 in the colter disc 33. A long bolt 38, having a square head adapted to fit into the square recess 38' on the clamping member 36, passes through the clamping member 36, colter disc 33, flange 32, sleeve 3|, washer 40., and the nut II. A

3| between the flange 32 and the-body portion 29. When the nut 4| is screwed tightly on the bolt 38, the sleeve 3|, colter disc 33, clamping member 36, bolt 38, and washer 40 rotate as a unit in the bearing afforded by the trunnion 30. A suitable grease fitting 42 is preferably provided to facilitate proper lubrication of this bearing.

When my invention is put into use the shank I'D is adjusted by means of the clamp C so that the colter disc will be supported in the desired location. Generally this desired location will be in line with the tip of the plow share and at a slight vertical distance above and horizontal distance ahead of the point of such plow share. When this desired location is attained the clamp C is tightened, so that the shank l0 will be rigidly held. When the position of the shank is once adjusted in this manner the adjustment is practically permanent in my device, inasmuch as subsequent and more particular adjustments of the colter disc itself are readily made without any necessity for disturbing the position of the shank l0.

With the colter mounting as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, it is obvious that, by adjusting the position of the body portion 29, the plane of rotation of the colter disc may be tilted from the vertical into any desired angle in either direction. Such adjustment is shown in Figure 5, and this adjustment is made simply by loosening the nut 26 sufliciently to permit the serrated faces of the discs 21 and 28 to be separated from the engaging surfaces of the body portion 29, then rotating the body portion so as to bring the colter disc into the desired angular position, and finally tightening the nut 26 to retain the body portion 29 as set. In a similar manner the plane of rotation of the colter disc may be set at any desired angle with respect to the horizontal line of travel of the plow by adjusting the position of the hub l9 on the shank Hi; this adjustment requiring only the loosening of the nut l4 suiiiciently to disengage the teeth or serrated faces of the discs l6 and 20 so as to permit the hub 9 to be turned, and then clamping these parts together 'by again tightening the nut l4. Thus my colter may be adjusted to any of awide range of operating positions.

Since the spindle 22 is of the same diameter as the shank stem (Figure 3) and the discs I6, 20, 21 and 28 are all identical, it is possible to mount the trunnion body portion 29 directly on the shank stem between the discs l6 and 20, and thus dispense entirely with the spindled hub I9 and its remaining members. This modified form of my invention is shown in Figures 6, 8, and 7. With this modified form of my colter mounting the plane of rotation of the colter disc is always parallel to the axis of the shank l0, since the axis of the trunnion 30 will always be perpendicular to the axis of the shank It]. However, the angle of the plane of rotation of the colter disc, with respect to the horizontal line of travel of the plow, or with respect to the straight side of the plow share and the edge of the furrow made by the plow in the earth, may be varied to any extent desired as will be apparent from Figure 8.

For most practical purposes I have found that this modified and simplified form of my invention is sufiicient. The large number of angular washer 39 is also previously placed on the sleeve positions into which the colter disc may be set with its axis still remaining at right angles to the axis of the shank l0 include all the positions of adjustment now possible in ordinary colters.

But, as will be apparent, also from Figure 8, throughout these adjustments the center of the colter disc 33 remains in practically the same location with reference to the path to be traveled by the tip of the plow share S. This feature is not true in ordinary colters in which the colter disc is supported in a yoke, and the swinging of the yoke in order to change'the angle of the plane of rotation of the disc necessitates the moving the disc axis to one side or the other of the tip of the plow share, thus considerably limiting the effective adjustments attainable in a yoke-supported colter.

My colter is especially designed to t rn straw, trash, stubble and the like under, as it moves ahead of the plow share and at an angle to the line of travel of the plow. The action of the plow then causes further earth to be thrown on top of the overturned stubble, etc., thus effectively taking care of such material. The accumulation and collection of straw briars and other trash ahead of the plow share and colter have heretofore constituted one of the problems attendant with the use of ordinary plows and colters. The use of my colter I have also found considerably reduces the pull or power required for moving the plow and thus makes possible a certain economy in fuel where a tractor is employed for plowing.

Thus, by my invention, I not only obtain more adjustmentsand more accurate adjustments of the colter disc than attainable with the colter mountings now in customary use, but I also dispense entirely with the customary supporting yoke for the colter, and, consequently, with the troublesome clogging of the yoke and the attendant danger of breaking the yoke when encountering too great a lateral strain.

I claim:

1 1.'In a colter mounting of the character described, a shaft, means for securing said shaft in a desired position, a shoulder on said shaft, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said shaft beyond said shoulder, the ends of said member being formed into annular radiallytoothed surfaces, 9. pair of slidably-mounted annular discs on said shaft adjacent said ends of said member respectively, the adjacent faces of said discs being toothed to co-act with said toothed ends of said member, a key-way extending longitudinally in said shaft, each of said discs carrying a key'slidable in said keyway, a clamping element on the end of said shaft holding said member and said discs normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said member to be disengaged from said discs and thus to f be rotated on said shaft, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatableelement, whereby the plane of rotation of said colter disc may be varied by adjusting said member on said shaft.

2. In a colter mounting of the character described, a shaft, means for securing said shaft in a desired position, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said shaft, the ends of said member being formed into annular radiallytoothed surfaces, non-rotatable means on said shaft adapted to engage one of said toothed surfaces, a slidably-mounted annular disc on said shaft adjacent the other of said toothed surfaces of said hub, the adjacent face of said disc being toothed to engage said hub, a keyway extending longitudinally in said shaft, said disc carrying a key slidable in said keyway, a clamping nut on engage said toothed surfaces, a

the end of said shaft holding said member and said non-rotatable means and said disc normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said member to be disengaged from said non-rotatable means and said disc and thus to be rotated on said shaft, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element, whereby the plane of rotation of said colter disc may be varied by adjusting said member on said shaft.

3. In a colter mounting of the character described, a downwardly extending shank, a shoulder on the lower portion of said shank, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said shank. below said shoulder, the upper and lower ends of said member being formed into annular radially-toothed surfaces, non-rotatable means on said shank adapted to engage the upper of said toothed surfaces, a slidably-mounted annular disc on said shank below said member, the upper face of said disc being toothed to co-act with the lower end of said member, a keyway extending longitudinally in said'shank, said disc carrying a key slidable in said keyway, a. clamping nut on the, end of said shank holding said member and said non-rotatable means and said disc normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said member to be disengaged from said non-rotatable means and said disc and thus to be rotated on said shank, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element, whereby the vertical plane of rotation of said colter disc. may be varied with respect to the horizontal line of travel by adjusting said member on said shank.

4. In a colter mounting of the character described, a downwardly extending shank, means for clamping the upper end of said shank in place, a section of reduced diameter on the lower end of said shank, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said reduced diameter section, the upper and lower ends of said member being formed into annular radially-toothed surfaces, a pair of slidably-mounted annular discs on said reduced section of said shank adjacent said ends of said member respectively, the ad- Jacent faces of said discs being toothed to co-act with said toothed ends of said member, a keyway extending longitudinally in said reduced section of said shank, each of said discs carrying a key slidable in said keyway, a clamping element on the end of said shank holding said member and said discs normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said member to be disengaged from said discs and thus to berot'ated on said shank, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element.

5. In a colter mounting of the character described, a downwardly extending shank, a hub slidably and rotatably mounted on said shank, the upper and lower ends of said hub being formed into annular radially-toothed surfaces, non-rotatable means on said shank adapted to clamping element on said shank holding said hub and said nonrotatable me'ans normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said hub to be disengaged from said non-rotatable means and thus to be rotated on said shank, a laterally-extending spindle carried by said hub, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said spindle,

eter of said spindle corresponding to th diam.

eter of said reduced diameter section of said; shank, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said spindle, said member having toothed ends similar to said hub, toothed annular discs on said spindle, identical to said slidably-mounted toothed non-rotatable annular discs on said element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element.

6. A colter mounting of the character described including, a downwardly extending shank,. a shoulder on the lower portion or said shank, a hub slidably and rotatably mounted on said shank below said shoulder, the upper and lower ends of said hub being formed into annular radially-toothed surfaces, a pair of slidablymounted annular discs on said shank adjacent said ends of said hub respectively, the adjacent faces of said discs being toothed to co-act with said toothed ends of said hub, a keyway extending longitudinally in said shank, each of said discs carrying a key slidable in said keyway, a clamping nut on the end of said shank holding said hub and said discs normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said hub to be disengaged from said discs and thus to be rotated on said shank, a laterally-extending spindle carried by said hub, a member slidably and rotatably. mounted on-said spindle, said member having toothed ends similar to said hub, toothed annular discs on said spindle, corresponding to said slidably-mounted toothed nonrotatable annular discs on said shank, adapted to engage the toothed ends of said member, a clamping nut on the end of said spindle to hold said member and said latter-mentioned discs in engagement, a trunnion on said member, s. rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element.

7. A colter mounting comprising, a downwardly extending shank, means for clamping the upper end of said shank in place, the lower portion of said shank being offset from the upper portion, a section of reduced diameter on the lower end of said shank, a hub slid-ably and rotatably mounted on said reduced diameter section, the upper and lower ends of said hub being formed into annular radially-toothed surfaces, a pair of slidably-mounted annular discs on said reduced section of said shank adjacent said ends of said hub respectively, the adjacent faces of said discs being toothed to co-aot with said toothed ends of said hub, a keyway extending longitudinally in said reduced section of said shank, each of said discs carrying a key slidable in said keyway, a clamping nut on the end of said shank holding said hub and said discs normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said hub to be disengaged from said discs and thus to be rotated on said shank, a laterallyextending spindle carried by said hub, the diamshankfiadapted to engage the toothed ends of said member, a clamping nut on the end of said spindle to hold said member and said lattermentioned discs in engagement, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element, whereby the plane of rotation of said colter disc may be varied with respect to the horizontal line of travel by adjusting said hub on said shank and tilting of said colter disc from the vertical plane may be effected by adjusting the position of said member on said spin- 8. In a plow, a colter mounting including a substantially vertical shaft, adjustable means for securing said shaft to the plow frame, the lower portion of said shaft being oifset from the upper portion, said lower portion terminating in a section of reduced diameter, a member slidably and rotatably mounted on said section, one end of said member having an annular radiallytoothed surface, non-rotatable means on said shaftadapted to engage said toothed surface, a clamping element on said shaft holding said member and said non-rotatable means normally in engaging position but, when loosened, permitting said member to be disengaged from said means and rota-ted on said shaft section, a trunnion on said member, a rotatable element supported in said trunnion and a colter disc attached to said rotatable element.

9. A colter mounting comprising a downwardly-extending shank, a hub slid ably and rotatably mounted on the lower end of said shank, engaging means carried by one end of said hub, coopera-ting non-rotatable means on said shank adapted to engage with said engaging means on said hub to hold said hub against rotation, clamping means on said shank for holding said hub and said non-rotatable means normally in engaging position, a laterally-extending spindle carried by said hub, a second hub slidably and rotatably mounted on said spindle, engaging means carried by one end of said second hub, cooperating non-rotatable means on said spindle adapted to engage with said engaging means on said second hub to hold said second hub against rotation on said spindle, clamping means on said spindle for holding said second hub in engaging position with said non-rotatable means of said spindle, and a colter rotatably-mounted on said second hub.

, W. JOHN HEWITT. 

